1 Week; 1 Millimeter; 36 hours

Hi everyone!

It’s me, Jeremy! A big thank you to my sister and whole family for posting all the updates while I was in surgery and in the hospital. Also, thank you for all the kind notes, text messages, Facebook comments, etc.. Please know that I have seen them, and they have brought me a lot of joy and comfort. I haven’t really been using my phone at all because it makes my head hurt, and well basically everything makes my head hurt, so I’m sorry I haven’t replied to you yet. I will do that when my head tells me I’m ready to.

This is actually my first time hopping on my computer because I wanted to quickly mark one week since my surgery (…and typing is actually great occupational therapy for my hand), so two birds with one scone! 😉

I’ve had two brain surgery’s before, but this time was surreal. Last Tuesday, my Mom, stepfather, and I sat at the dinner table where we were sitting less than 48 hours before. In between that time, I had brain surgery! 🤯

Who knew it was possible to go into brain surgery, and get discharged within 36 hours? It’s truly a testament to my surgeon, surgical team, and the incredible technology that continues to improve. (Check out the AMIGO suite where I was fortunate to receive my surgery: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/research/amigo/advanced-multimodality-image-guided-operating-suite). I don’t take the privilege to receive surgery in one of the most high-tech operating suites lightly.

I’ll write more about my surgical experience another time, but I think the most important news and number is one millimeter: That is the distance between where my surgeon successfully removed the tumor nodule and where I would have had some permanent functional loss in my hand and arm. One millimeter between two vastly different post-surgical lives. I’m honestly beyond words to describe how blessed I feel to have had that threshold and a surgeon who was able to navigate that boundary.

So what now?

I have weakness in my right arm and hand, but particularly the fine motor function in my hand. All of this should hopefully return back to baseline with rehab and time (…as swelling from surgery goes down). So I have been doing my own PT and OT from walks around the living room, playing piano, tying sailing knots, to building a lego set. Even typing this blog has been great OT, but as with all the other activities, I’m starting to get a headache and feel tired.

There’s an important balance between rehab and rest particularly this soon after surgery. The speed in which I was discharged caught me a little off guard, so I’m having to navigate new waters. Some days I feel better than others. And other days I wake up with a focal seizure that makes my arm feel as if I just woke up from surgery.

Patience is key, as well as giving myself some grace to see how far I have already come in just a week.

Time for some rest.

With love,

Jeremy